4 weeks, ups and downs but still motivated

This topic contains 4 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Purple Vegie Eater 10 years ago.

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StayHealthyCely

8:33 pm
5 May 14
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Hi,

I am a 36 years old journalist, I love food and I have a very sweet tooth. My eyes were always bigger than my stomach… and that’s what got me to gain pounds/kilos very easily. Before I started the fast diet, I went on holiday on an “all inclusive” resort… I have always “tried” to control the amount of calories I eat (1600 calories per day) but WOW, when I saw the buffet at the hotel I felt like a kid in Disneyland… so…when I came back home after that wonderful week, I gained 8.5 pounds/4 kilos (yes, yes.. I think I had 2500 or more calories per day for 8 days!).

So I started this fast diet in the hope of being able to feel quickly full and NOT want to have 3 pieces of chocolate cake, but just one and feel happy with it. I want to have a limit, to say “no thanks” when I had a good dinner and don’t need dessert. So far I feel like a yoyo : one week I feel strong and motivated, I feel like I can do it, and at the end of the week, I see a drop of 10 ounces/300 grams or a little more. Yay ! But then the next week I make a barbecue and invite my friends over, have wine, chips, cheese and dessert (+ the BBQ itself) and I gain twice more the next day. I’m not talking about small amounts of each dish… but more like “binging” and enjoying it. And of course, feeling like a failure the next day.

So today isn’t a good day, I feel like I have to start over again. But that doesn’t keep me from staying motivated, I am human and I can’t/won’t force myself not to eat, it will make me feel worse tomorrow. So today was a non-fast day and I eat reasonably (I can afford 1750 calories and believe me, I hit the target), but tomorrow is a fast-day and I will respect the 500 calories. I never had a problem to say “no” to high calory food on fast days, so what is my problem on the other days???!!!

Every day I read all of your post and I feel like I am not alone in this journey, it gives me strength not to give up and feel/be healthy. I really hope, in a few month, I’ll be able to enjoy small amounts of food and not wanting more. I hope I’ll be able to write another post and make other people believe that they also can do it. Achieve what they now think it is impossible and find balance in their life thanks to the fast diet.

Thanks to all of you who makes people like me feel better even on their worst days 🙂 Thanks for reminding me that we are humans and we need to be patient with ourselves.

Oh and let’s not forget the most important : I lost 5.5 pounds/2 kilos since I came back from my holiday. So 10 more pounds to go to feel healthy again. With some working out 3-4 days a week, I will make it!

Stef.

8:52 pm
5 May 14
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I can feel you! Have been there, done it…

I believe what is good about your situation is that you are well aware of the culprits and therefore is becomes easier to deal with them!

I am very close to maintenance and I believe I have pretty successfully changed my life style, not all according to the rules of 5:2, but adapted to my own.

Before I bore you with all the things that I have done over the last six months, here are some that I consider vital to my success:

1. I downloaded myfitnesspal app and I am logging ALL my food HONESTLY in my app. It has a scanner function included and you can scan most of your food items. If in doubt about quantity, I weigh the e.g. Oatmeal… This helped me to not only see how many calories some innocent cookies have but also to control my portions. If I know that I want to have an ice cream tonight, than I will have to allocate some calories for it! I might already put it into the app before I have even eaten it, just to check how many calories remain.

2. I had a long and hard look at my diet and I read tons of book about healthy eating. I started to cut out things that are empty calories. In my case this was particularly my love for the full sugar Coke. So no more Coke in my household, instead water and green tea! I did this with many other items as well: pasta and white rice only very occassionally, only ONCE in six months a pizza instead of weekly…

3. I cut down on processed food pretty much entirely: I like the sentence: if your great great grand mother can’t tell whether it is food or not, don’t touch it. I have introduced tons of veggies to my diet. They are not only healthy but also very filling!

4. In addition to point three: I bought myself a top of the range food blender to make smoothies. There is no other way for me to “eat” about 400g of spinach daily (!) but by having it in smoothie form. These smoothies are very filling and regularly they replace my need for breakfast, lunch and on fast days even dinner! Believe me a smoothie consistent of 400g of spinach, 10 aspargus spears, a bowl of broccoli, almond milk and perhaps other left over veggies makes about 1.2l of smoothie and that will last you easily a whole day and you stay under 500 cal!

5. Last but not least I got myself a pedometer and now also a heart rate monitor with sport watch. You would not believe it how much this encourages me to exercise more and to move more! Highly recommended. By walking briskly an hour a day you burn tons of calories and it is good for your health!

Why did I write all of this? What all of the above in combination with 5:2 and my personal alterations to it did, was it made me super keen on eating healthy and exercising. Now I do not envy other people when they gulp down a burger, but frankly I feel sorry for them. Now I make sure I get my hour walk in every day and I don’t see it as a burden but I am looking forward to it. Now I spend quite a bit of time analyzing my data on myfitnesspal to make sure that I get all my macro and micro nutrients and to plan my meals.

It changed my attitude to food, nutrition and exercise and this is in my opinion the biggest change that I got from starting off with 5:2 and this and only this is why I now believe that keeping my weight is actually sustainable. It has nothing to do anymore for me (!) with doing 5:2 or 6:1 for maintenance but with eating healthy and doing proper exercise.

Best of luck
Stef.

StayHealthyCely

9:30 pm
5 May 14
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Stef,

It is wonderful to see that you have succeeded in maintaining your weight by eating healthy. I am impressed with your strength (eating less white rice and pasta etc.) , I should find a replacement to those carbs too, it will make it easier.

Thank you so much for all the tips. I’m counting the calories for a year now with an app called myfatsecret (maximum 1600 per day), and honestly I had the perfect weight for nearly a year, and as winter came by… I had to fight the urge to eat chocolate and desserts, and comfort food…Looks definitely like I lost the fight when I was on holiday. At first I increased my fitness hours, instead of 4 per week, I went exercising everyday… not really working if you eat high carbs most of the time. Walking briskly is a very good exercise : Twice a week I put on my sneakers and have a brisk walk with my colleague.

I’m hoping that the fast diet will make me realize again that it is ok to feel hungry without having immediately something to eat at hand. I need to , like you, feel horrified when I see someone gulping down a hamburger in a second and even if I wanted to, couldn’t be able to eat the whole hamburger, but just a part of it (or better : not even wanting to eat the hamburger). And most of it : stop getting used to eat dessert like cakes but more fruits or/and fat free yoghurt.

I’ll try to…no,let me rephrase it: I WILL follow your path and hopefully give you some positive results. I am looking forward to change my attitude to food and keep it that way for the rest of my life.

Stef.

3:23 am
6 May 14
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I am sure you will succeed! Falling of the wagon over holidays and xmas is understandable and the good thing is the wagon will be there all the time for you to hop back on again.

I have just been two weeks in Europe on business and I decided to not really follow “the diet”, so no fast days and if I went over my caloric intake, I didn’t care. To my utter surprise up one my return, I saw that I hadn’t gained a single gram. The only explanation that I have is that I made healthy choice with some exceptions. I stuck to lot’s of veggies and mainly meat or fish. I had the one single pizza that I had over the last six months while in Europe AND I had a couple of deserts. Nevertheless, no gain.

Now I am back on the wagon and I am eating under my TDEE. For the time being no fast days due to more exercise and jet lag.

What I forgot to write earlier on: try and sleep enough hours! I completely underestimated how important enough sleep is!

Best of luck and keep us updated.
Stef.

Purple Vegie Eater

5:30 am
6 May 14
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Yes Stef, you are right. The wagon will always be there waiting.
It IS interesting how doing 5:2 makes you more aware of food choices. You don’t need to deny yourself, but given a couple of choices, it is interesting how you learn to choose the one with lower cals, but often a better meal. I usually choose the vegie option while out now and avoid the places with huge plates of chips (fries).I LOVE eating at places that serve beautifully prepared, fresh food instead of the old plate full to overflowing with stog.
Keep motivating, Stef, you do it well.
Purple Vegie Eater